A solution for Toilet Phone Syndrome?

I’ve sort of lost track of how many cell phones my family has drowned over the years. My son killed one in a glass of Dr Pepper, I myself lost one in a bizarre canoe accident involving my wife and alligators, another son dunked his in a swimming pool and my daughter lost one in the toilet. Those are just the ones I can recall off the top of my head. I’ve had several friends and co-workers who, like my daughter, fell victim to Toilet Phone Syndrome too.

For years, I’ve suspected that cell phone companies didn’t offer waterproof phones because they made too much money on replacements. Teenagers, I figured, were a key sales driver. Even the “protection plans” that cell phone companies offer to jack up your monthly bill typically don’t cover water damage — the thing you’d most want to protect against.

From the phone company’s perspective, selling waterproof phones would be like selling printers that didn’t need ink cartridges.